People collaborate with people. People also collaborate with machines. And machines collaborate with machines. But what happens when it all breaks down - what we have here is a failure to collaborate and communicate. (With apologies to Strother Martin's character "Captain" in Cool Hand Luke)

Before I start, I want to say that I really like Fedex as a company and have been very satisfied with their services over the years, although I blamed them in my book for helping create a society of instant gratification. But I digress.

It all started with a package, which in actuality was travelling such a short distance I could have delivered it myself. But instead, I chose to send it via Fedex and dropped it off at a Fedex station yesterday midday. It was scheduled to have arrived at 39 West 14th Street today at 10:30 a.m.. But it didn't.Usually, the Fedex Web-based shipment tracking system is spot on. So I was surprised when I checked at 9:30 a.m. and it showed "At local Fedex facility." At 10:30 I called and a customer service rep told me that there had been some freight delays coming in from Newark (which is where my package was sorted) and there was a one-hour delay system wide. No problem, I thought. 11:30 came and went. I checked the Web site at 12:15. This time it showed "Delivery Exception - Incorrect Address." Now that's funny, I know the address was correct. In fact, I have the original air bill here. So I rang customer service again. They told me they were delivering to "391 West 14th Street" which is not what I had written on the air bill (that will teach me to write these things out by hand). Apparently, something had caused a mark to be added next to the "39" but, according to the cheerful representative, I shouldn't worry; she would send a message to the station, which would in turn contact the driver and arrange a redelivery to the correct address since the driver was still in the area (albeit many streets away from the destination).

As advised, I called back in 30 minutes and the [now] slightly less cheerful representative told me that 30 minutes was wildly optimistic and that normally this process takes up to two hours. So I called back again - at the prescribed interval.

The next representative was very much to the point: "The driver has already gone home; we won't be able to deliver the package today." The time was now 14:15. I asked for a supervisor and met Buzz, a chap in the customer advocacy team. He was very pleasant and well trained in empathy. He investigated the situation and tried to figure out why I was given wildly conflicting information on what to do and what would happen. At every turn, the representatives I was speaking with were checking with colleagues and systems. And each managed to give me a different story and possible outcome.

If the first or second representative had informed me that the package simply could not be delivered until Monday, I could have both considered alternate arrangements (such as arranging to have the package picked up) and saved time by not calling back like an automaton.

This was an important package. I really needed it to be delivered by 10:30. But it wasn't and the failure of multiple people to collaborate and share correct information with me wasted both my time and theirs.

These things happen all the time - but they shouldn't. I spoke with five people over the course of several hours - probably at a cost of several hundred dollars to Fedex. All for a package that cost ca. $18 to send.

The facts of this case didn't change as the day progressed; but the information the representatives gave me did, and the information they got both from colleagues and each other was incorrect at several junctures. Clearly mistakes happen. But some mistakes are avoidable; clearly, the representative who told me to call back in 30 minutes was wrong yet she set my expectations in a way that guaranteed I would be unhappy when I called back.

As I noted earlier, people collaborate with people and also with machines. In the same breath, people need to understand the limitations of such interaction and recognize when a course correction is needed.

Welcome to
TechWeb, the IT professional's online resource for news coverage of the
information technology industry. We know technology news. Our mobile
and wireless news coverage moves as fast as wireless technology itself.
We follow all the devices you depend on to stay connected. Our software
coverage follows the multi-faceted software industry from every angle.
We've got a lock on network security and computer security issues.
We're all over the business of the Web--the Internet business--and the
engines that run it. We have our eyes and ears tuned to the players who
make and run the tools that tie us all together--Google, Microsoft,
eBay, Cisco, Yahoo, Oracle, Apple, Sony--and scores of others. And we
keep close tabs on the backbone of information technology, PC hardware.
We know PCs and Apple computers inside and out. We cover computer
technology, computer news, software news, search engine news, business
software, operating systems, and software development. Our coverage of
tech news includes a strong focus on the security business, its
attendant spyware and viruses, how security relates to wireless
technology and business networking and the security issues surrounding
RFID technology. We closely follow developments in Internet news and
Internet technology, including the spread of broadband and its effect
on Web browsers and the Web business. We watch the VoIP business, and
how VoIP technology is affecting the state of telephony in the
enterprise. And if all that isn't enough, we also track developments in
the IT industry that affect IT jobs, IT careers, and outsourcing.